Escape of the Week: A Silverback in Rwanda

I remember this day like it was yesterday, although it was almost a year exactly since this photo was taken.

It was me, Anna, JD, Adam, Jason, and Mary, along with William, a representative from the Rwanda Development Board. We had been invited to visit Rwanda for a little more than five days to see the sites and (of course) write about our time there.

When I first saw the itinerary and the gorilla trek on there, my heart kinda stopped. Two thoughts ran through my mind: 1. Gorillas!! Bad ass. 2. I hope we don’t have to climb any mountains. See, if you know me, you know me and mountains aren’t great friends. I prefer flat hikes (if you can still call it a hike). Anyway, this trek was most definitely NOT flat. There were a lot of steep inclines, sliding down dirt slopes on our bums because walking down them would have resulted in a tumble down a vine-covered cliff into the pits of a volcanic jungle, and more.

But, the moment we saw those gorillas … man, it was worth every ounce of sweat, every second of being out of breath, every little pain twitching through my body. Because, damn, those gorillas are just some of the most spectacular creatures I have ever had the great honor to stand near.

This photo was taken of the silverback in the group we trekked. The silverback is the head honcho of the group, as you can tell from this picture. We were standing a little more than 8 feet away when I took this, but he was watching us closely the entire time. And, when he decided to get up and get a closer look at the humans stalking him, well, we all had to retreat a little bit. No one wants an angry silverback in their faces.

Holy smokes! That really is bad ass. And what an awesome shot. So incredible. I’m in awe that you got to have that experience. I hope I am that luck one day. I should probably wait a few more years. Dek might decide the silverback should be his daddy and run off with them (he isn’t 2 yet).